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Quick update guys... After many months of wait, i finally have received Written Permission from URA and ST-01 from BCA to proceed with demolition. ST-02 is in process and we shouldn't expect any hiccups. There were some minor changes and additional considerations along the way - like relocating the position of bathtub/shower area to maximize ceiling height, trade of best position of IC manhole, but l suppose these are minor surprises that will occur during a rebuild journey. Am glad that we were not impacted by anything major, guess this was mitigated by the fact that Architect scrutinized things quite carefully. along the way, URA also requested for roof to be changed from metal to RC in view of the position of the HomeShelter, and thus piling plan needed to be recomputed, still in the process of electing a piling contractor but i have to say prices have almost doubled with time. my observation is that the piling industry is very narrow and the providers do talk amongst one another to ensure that they don't under-cut each other. For small scale landed micropile projects, i think at max no more than 10-vendors. Prices for the bigger boys can easily be 20%-30% more but they claim to come with newer equipment. a few of you have asked me about my architect and builder's contact: Architect: https://arjonathanlim.wixsite.com/home Design and Build: http://3ebuilder.com/ To clarify, I did not engage an Ar and called a tender, the Ar was engaged by my builder but i was fortunate to have a very hands on Ar and he was involved every step of the way. In fact, i would say during the submission, planning and design stage, the Ar interaction with me was significantly much more than builder. But i can see comms with my builder increasing now that we are moving to demolition and build phase. Finally, just a word of caution, the industry seems to be booming, everyone seems to be doing very well and having a lot of jobs, I can sense quotes are taking a while to come back, replies are slow in general and prices i out of roof. If wait time is possible, i think it may be better to sit out on this crazy period for a while. I really feel everyone has loads of business and i can sense everyone not being able to cope and buying time by doing things slowly, the sense of urgency is not there - i find myself doing a lot of chasing for people to come back.

Nope. normally profit in attendance will apply to nominated subcons. How can contractor charge the owner this when owner is DIYing something in his own house? if you are really concerned about this can always install the CCTV after you take over the house upon TOP. The important thing is to have the wiring all done up first which would be part of the main contractor’s scope assuming you are getting his electrician to pull the wires for you.

Wondering if i should engage a CCTV guy to install my CCTVs, or just buy them myself (cheaper) and install on my own ... I'm not the most tech savvy person though. Is it complicated? Or Plug and play... I think i will need like 6-7 CCTVs (indoor and outdoors). Alternatively, are there pple who help with installation after you buy your own CCTVs?

For my video intercom, see my post here For side gate lock, I'm using CISA 1A731 electric lock (Thanks to AWS for the recommendation) CCTV cameras and NVR - I'm using a mixture of Hikvision 2MP and 4MP ColorVu cameras. I look more at the sensor size than the resolution. Sensor size affects video quality much more than resolution in low light situations. I use the 4MP cameras for key areas outside which tend to be in low light. They cost 2-3 times more than the 2MP ones and the sensor is much larger than even the 8MP cameras. I believe Dahua will have equivalents as well. If you are planning to DIY though, prepare to spend many hours troubleshooting and trial and error😂 It may be more worth it to just pay someone to do it just to maintain your own sanity!

for CCTV, there are plenty of resellers so it's just a matter of who you decide to go with. the usual brands like Hikvision or Dahua should be quite safe. Unless you want something from a single brand which has complete package with WIFI solutions, then Ubiquiti has a complete solution from CCTVs to access points and POE network switches, routers, DVRs, etc. what kind of intercom are you referring to? are you referring to video doorbell with intercom or just internal intercom system? for video doorbell, I think AWS had mentioned some recommendations in another thread. If you are looking for internal intercom, maybe can consider using a PBX phone system instead. I have a Panasonic PBX system installed for my house and it has intercom functionalities besides being a house phone for incoming/outgoing calls.

Hi @Mandm You will be paying a very significant marked up portion of installation costs. For example, the Dahua 2MP camera can be found at Lazada for approx. half the price. Like Snoozee, I'm doing the setup by myself and use my contractor (electrician) to just lay the cables. For my video intercom system, I bought the Hikvision DS-KIS603-P system for under $300. You can see who's at the door and unlock from your phone. It has card access and can integrate with my Hikvision CCTV /NVR system as well. Available at Lazada or Shopee.

you can grab it here - note this is a BQ https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DM8q7s6GyevcKbVLvYtmk8uN3ALpIXQW/view?usp=sharing

Without knowing your exact breakdown, it seems high as mine is a 3.5 storey corner terrace? For water tank and pump (includes PUB submission), I was quoted $20K.

I spent 30k plus for the solar panels and get a measly $100 plus every month from SP. Totally not worth the money and hassle and not mentioning you have to engage the solar panel company to clean the solar panels once every 2 years. This is due to grime and bird droppings on the panels which will affect the yield.

It’s not the panels but how the system is set up to tie back to the national grid. You need to tell your PV panel contractor that you want to do this and they should be able to advise you further and set up for you including applying for accounts and such with SP/EMA